If producing high quality obscure background characters, EU characters, characters from cut-scenes, and any other odd segment of the 3.75 collection is profitable for Hasbro, they would continue.

Obviously, it isn't. If they need to move the scale to more kid friendly assortment and less articulation to keep SW going, then that's what they need to do. They are a business, and business needs to make money.

---But isn't that saying exactly what I said in a different way? =) There's not enough profit in it. Listen, I work in publishing. I have a series of books right now that are doing pretty well, but the publisher is not going to continue with them because they don't make ENOUGH profit. The books make money, but because of the way they are printed, and the low price we offer them at, they're not bringing in the money the publisher had hoped they would.

Read the rest of what I wrote. I'm saying that if their estimates show not enough volume/profit coming from a collector focused 4" line, then their research or decision criteria is likely flawed.

Clearly if there isn't enough profit coming in, a company needs to stop production OR revisit the way they're going to market. I work for a manufacturing company and I see this all the time. We put out a TV ad or invest in a new product, then we're quick to dump the investment when numbers come back below expectations. But all too often, it is the execution of the idea that was flawed, not the concept itself. Yeah, your TV ad failed because it wasn't meaningful or funny, hardly mentions the brand, and you only ran it at 3am. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be advertising or that advertising isn't profitable. Yes, your new product came in with lower than expected volume, but the people who tried it loved it and came back for repeat purchases. Maybe we didn't hit the volume/profit expectation because you spent $0 promoting it and only got distribution in ten stores. People want to assign a blanket pass/fail to things without looking at what factors might have driven the outcome.

In the case of the 4" line, there is clear demand for more as long as it's high quality stuff at reasonable prices. I don't know Hasbro's cost structure, but it's their job to deliver a product that meets consumer demand in a way that's profitable for the company. I just have a hard time believing that lower profits on 4" figures are due to lack of demand or outrageous costs versus crummy assortments and bad distribution. From everything I've seen, lack of profit is driven by their own mistakes, but of course it's always easier to just blame costs or the consumer. I sure don't see any consumers begging for 6" product at $20 or cheap, low articulation 4" figures.

Just taking a look around the general internet, a LOT of the geek blogs are freaking out (positively) for these.

There may be a bit of reservation amongst the 3.75" loyalist worried that the 6" line costs will start cannibalizing the 3.75" tooling budget if the 6" line takes off, but out in the general toy blog world, there is a TON of positivity and excitement for these.

Since Disney entered the picture, we have seen a lot of change. Coincidence?

I'm not sure I subscribe to that as much as the changes in the toy business. Look at some other licensed boys toys. And the growing trend seems to be to offer a range of figures in multiple scales. We've seen that in movie lines like Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Green Lantern & more. If anything, Hasbro Star Wars seems a little bit late to the game in that business model shift.

People have been asking for these since the beginning of the fan Q&A (2006/2007) and probably long before that. It would be interesting to find out why we're finally getting these after Hasbro had said "no thanks" to this new scale for so long.

Are 3.75" sales to the point where Hasbro had to finally try something to appease the retailers? Is it a Disney directive? Is it Hasbro themselves testing the waters to see if 6" scale would work for Episode 7?

Are 3.75" sales to the point where Hasbro had to finally try something to appease the retailers? Is it a Disney directive? Is it Hasbro themselves testing the waters to see if 6" scale would work for Episode 7?

All of the above? It really does make sense to go this route. They've tried Vintage/Clone Wars/Legends all at the same time and you have to think that those lines cannibalize each other to some extent. They suffer from similar price points and no real distinction beyond the collectors. I can't imagine Hasbro has much faith in their 12" figures, but any new platform is worth testing out, especially to see what sticks before the movies hit.

I'd add in the potential for greater profit as well. Let's say Hasbro makes a 4" figure for $2 and charges retailers $4, then retailers turn around and sell it for $10. At an MSRP of $20, Hasbro can charge retailers $8 per 6" figure, but they may only cost $3-4 to make. I'm sure they'd much rather be netting $4-5 profit per figure than $2. Add in that the 6" figure purchase might be incremental to the 4" and it's a no-brainer I think. This ought to get retailers behind the plan as well, as they should see similar penny profit increases at the same percent margins.

I'm on the fence with these. I really shouldn't, but I'm leaning towards picking up a couple OT ones. It's a slippery slope, much like it was when I got addicted to Crackbricks... wanted Bounty Hunters and Vader, but then I realized they need some heroes, so I pick up those. Then you've got troopers and Greedo, etc. It's downhill from there.

Lots of talk about Disney potentially being the driving force behind this new 6" line, but considering the fact that the Disney deal wasn't even finalized 'til just 6 weeks ago, could a new Hasbro line (even just 4 or 6 figures) really be this far along into production/distribution if that was the case? Doesn't seem like that's possible to me, unless Hasbro's had some 6" stuff already worked up and sitting around in "the parking lot" for a while, waiting for some new impetus to get the line off the floor and out the door (like a new trilogy)...

As for the 6" line itself, I'm still trying to recover from the news of a whole new trilogy(s) full of upcoming figures to collect. The announcement of this (beautiful, but overpriced) 6" line has my head ready to explode, I think. After 35 years of collecting this stuff (less the '85 - '95 decade), like everyone else here, I'm running out of space!

As Snively said, these must have been in development longer than the ink has been dry on the Disney deal. This was going to happen regardless, and it's pretty much the natural progression of a line evolving into a clearly demarcated kid vs. collector structure that has been blurry for a while. Kids want toys they can play with (and afford). Collectors want value for their money. They want new stuff, but there's not a lot of it because oh year Hasbro has figurized nearly everyone from all six films in the last 20 years. All that remains is buying them all again, in a way that's new and from a quality standpoint, probably better.

Lots of talk about Disney potentially being the driving force behind this new 6" line, but considering the fact that the Disney deal wasn't even finalized 'til just 6 weeks ago, could a new Hasbro line (even just 4 or 6 figures) really be this far along into production/distribution if that was the case?

Sorry to burst your bubble there guys, but you don't iron out a $4 billion deal over 6 weeks. How can anyone honestly believe Hasbro had absolutely no idea this was coming?! A big part of what makes this such a lucrative deal for Disney are the licensing rights. A 6" line would certainly yield much higher profits for Disney & Hasbro, so I'm sure it was mentioned as something that was desirable during the course of working out the deal, as was the idea of creating a sequel trilogy.

I know there's speculation it's all Disney, but I'm pretty certain it's not, and they've had zip to do with this.

Yeah, Hasbro had zilch to do with this decision...the 6" line is something they have wanted for a long time. Oh wait...

From November 3rd, 2006:

ActionFigs.com: With Hasbro now producing 6" super articulated Marvel figures, could we eventually see a special line with 6" super articulated Star Wars figures?

Hasbro: We have no plans for this type of figure line. As the heart and soul of the Star Wars collecting world, we are focused on making sure our 3-3/4" line is vibrant, fresh, and exciting first and foremost, along with providing continued newness for our other play patterns (Star Wars Transformers, Unleashed 2", and Galactic Heroes).

From December 7th, 2007:

JediInsider.com: There seems to be a decent amount of interest from collectors for 6" Marvel Legends style Star Wars figures. What are the chances we might see a line like that in the future?

Hasbro: We will not be producing a line like this for Star Wars. When we have tried other collector-targeted scales (like 7" Unleashed) we found that fan interest, when compared to the 3-3/4" system, is just not as strong. In addition, for kids, the 3-3/4" scale is also the best one for a wide-range of figures and vehicles that play together, which is critical to the Star Wars fantasy. Rather than spread too thin against collectors, we will be focusing our efforts against making sure the 3-3/4" is broad, as we have been for the past couple of years. We should note that the other sublines - Galactic Heroes, Star Wars Transformers, and Unelashed 2", have a very strong following among kids and we will continue these going forward as well.

So you're right, Disney had absolutely nothing to do with this decision to launch a 6" line and Hasbro was completely blindsided by the 4 billion dollar Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm, which happened overnight. Makes perfect sense.

I'm not really sure if it was more Disney or more Hasbro based on what we know. "No plans to make it" from Q&A's over five years old? Couldn't they have changed their minds over the last five years after seeing success elsewhere? As for Disney, if they were working on this deal for the last year and a half, maybe they strongly suggested exploring a 6" line. Does it really matter which company was more involved in the decision?

It's very naive to completely dismiss or discount the idea that maybe, just maybe, Disney was the major impetus in having a 6" line of Star Wars realized. Perhaps Hasbro had been considering it, pondering, thinking, but it makes sense that ultimately, Disney was the driving force that made it happen.

Does it matter what company was involved? Uh, yeah. The decision marks what I believe to be a pivotal point, a bold move which speaks volumes about what is in store for the future. It's a taste of things to come, something fresh and new, which doesn't seem to have any telltale signs of a decision that would come from the big H.